Horizontally expansible and contractible food storage container with Hinged folding cover

ABSTRACT

A storage container has two sections of horizontally moving asymmetrical accordion pleats to change the size of the container. A mating container cover having three sections hinged together to adjust the cover to fit the container. The container and cover expand and contract horizontally to adjust the size of the container and the container opening to allow for different shapes, sizes, and volumes of food or other matter stored therein. Each accordion pleat has a pair of accordion walls hinged together of two different widths which lock together.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/141,654, filed on May, 31, 2005 and U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/388,518 filed Mar. 24, 2006.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to collapsible storage containers andparticularly to a horizontally expansible and collapsible plastic foodstorage container comprising a container bottom having horizontallymoving asymmetrical accordion pleats and a container cover having hingedfolding overlapping parts to adjust the length to fit the bottom,whereby the container may be horizontally expanded or contracted toadjust the size of the container and the size and shape of the containeropening and the cover correspondingly adjusting to fit the containeropening to allow for different sizes, shapes, and volumes of food orother matter stored therein.

2. Description of Related Art including Information Disclosed Under 37CFR 1.97 and 1.98

Variable volume containers are well known, including vertically movingaccordion or bellow-type collapsible walls with non-transformable coversresting on top of the prior art containers which expand and contractvertically to change the volume of the container for storing varyingquantities of liquid with minimal air and minimal size of overallcontainer for the amount of contents with the cover attachable to anon-changeable opening.

Often in a refrigerator or other storage compartments there is a problemwith fitting everything in that requires storage. Adjusting thehorizontal size of containers to fit is just as important as and oftenmore important than adjusting vertical size of containers. Prior artpatents do not adequately address the problem. None of the prior artdevices provide a horizontally shape and size transformable containeropening and correspondingly changeable cover to accommodate variouslysized and shaped items to be placed in the container for storage.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,911,338, issued Jun. 15, 1999 to Miller, is for anadjustable container for providing a storage container whose volume maybe adjusted to suit the size and amount of items held therein. Theinventive device includes a base with a perimeter side wall extendingaround the base outer perimeter to define an interior space. Theperimeter side wall has a height (defined between the terminal edge ofthe perimeter side wall and the base) which is adjustably extendible toincrease or decrease the volume of the interior space. A removable lidis provided for substantially covering the opening into the interiorspace.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,413, issued Dec. 17, 1996 to Jung, is for a pleatedplastic container which is foldable and stored in a minimum space. Thecontainer comprises a foldable container body having a bottomprotrusion, a mouth for being closed by a plug and for being fittinglyengaged with said bottom protrusion, an outwardly directed concaverecess formed at a neck portion of said mouth, and a lateral protrusionformed on the periphery of said bottom protrusion for fittingly engagingwith said concave recess.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,301,293, issued Jan. 31, 1967 to Santelli, shows anaccordian pleated bottle with interlocking pleats to lock in place atdifferent heights of the bottle.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,130, issued Aug. 31, 1993 to Osbakk, provides acompressible body comprising a container and a flexible annular wallmember, and the container, in turn, includes a cylindrical side wall anda prestressed locking member. The side wall of the container forms anupper edge and defines a cylindrical space having a given circumference,and the locking member of the container is mounted on the upper edge ofthe side wall and is inherently biased radially inwardly toward aposition inward of that given circumference. The wall member of thebottle is mounted inside the container of the bottle, and that wallmember has extended and compressed positions. In the extended position,the wall member extends upward from the container; and in the compressedposition, the wall member is at least substantially contained within thecontainer and the upper portion of the wall member is below the lockingmember of the container. Moreover, when the wall member is compressedinto its compressed position, the locking member moves radiallyinwardly, due to is inherent resiliency, to a locking position in whichthe locking member extends directly over the upper portion of the wallmember and locks that wall member inside the container.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,129, issued Nov. 12, 1996 to Nagata et al.,describes a container formed for a liquid. In order to reduce a volumeof the container for a liquid after use thereof, a bellows portion isprovided at an axial direction portion of a container main body. A lidmember is removed, and liquid within the container for a liquid isdischarged from an opening portion. The bellows portion is contracted sothat head space can be adjusted and so that a volume of the containermain body can be reduced. Further, because the head space can beadjusted, an interior of the container for a liquid is alwayssubstantially filled with the liquid so that oxidation of the liquid canbe prevented. When the liquid is poured, the bellows portionautomatically expands and contracts so that the liquid flows quickly andso that little air is drawn in. Further, if a certain amount or more ofthe liquid in the interior is discharged, the volume can be reduced, anda volume-reduced state can be maintained by tightly screwing the lidmember. When the bellows portion is expanded, the container for a liquidis easy to hold as there are convex and concave portions at the bellowsportion.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,815, issued Aug. 22, 2000 to Mazda, describes acontraction-controlled bellows container (1) is disclosed, which canretain half or fully contracted configurations of the bellows ridges (2)whose upper walls (21) and/or lower walls (22) have at least onecircumferential indentation (3) adjacent the corresponding outer hinges(23) and/or inner hinges (24). The indentations utilize the pressureapplied onto the container effectively and get depressed further intothe corresponding bellows ridges prior to the corresponding portions ofthe other walls, reducing the total pressure requirement. Theindentations bring together the walls in which the indentations areprovided into the bellows ridges (2). These walls are gradually turnedin shape to lose their shape restoration thanks to their generallyprotruding configuration. Adjustment of the sizes of the indentationsmakes it possible to selectively contract the bellows ridges.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,083,877, issued Mar. 02, 1963 to Gash, provides acollapsible container with corrugations in the walls.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,412,652, issued Jul. 02, 2002 to Woram et al., disclosesa collapsible storage container having a displaceable access opening fortracking and providing proximate access to said diapers stored within.Said collapsible container further includes a rigid non-collapsibleportion at the top separated into two separate portions, the firstportion being the top of said collapsible diaper storage area and thesecond portion being a discrete independent separate storage area forcontaining treated or medicated diaper wipes. Said second diaper wipearea having its own separate access area including a hinge and adepression or tab to access the sheets of said diaper wipes.

U.S. Pat. No. D342,674, issued Dec. 28, 1993 to Schollen et al., is adesign for an expansible container with accordion pleat sides.

What is needed is a size-changeable storage container with asize-changeable container opening, and mating size-changeable cover toexpand and contract horizontally to change the storage space inside tooptimize the interior space and minimize the exterior size of thecontainer to accommodate various quantities of food or other substancesinside the container while taking up the least amount of horizontalstorage space by the container and with a minimal amount of air insidethe container in contact with the food or other substances.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide two series ofhorizontally acting pleats to form a pair of bellows sectionssandwiching a center section of a horizontally size and shape changeablestorage container with a size and shape changeable container opening anda mating size and shape changeable cover with three hinged foldingoverlapping components adjustable in length, which both expand andcontract horizontally to change the opening to accommodate variouslysized and shaped objects and change the storage space inside to optimizethe interior space and minimize the exterior size of the container toaccommodate various quantities of food or other substances inside thecontainer while taking up the least amount of horizontal storage spaceby the container and with a minimal amount of air inside the containerin contact with the food or other substances.

Another related object of the present invention is to provide accordionpleats in the container, each accordion pleat having a different widthpair of accordion walls hinged together so that upon compression each ofthe accordion pleats is separately collapsible with the wider width wallof each of the pleats forcing the narrower width wall to snap backwardinternally overlapping the adjacent accordion wall, thereby collapsingthe accordion pleat and locking the accordion pleat in a closed positionand shortening the horizontal length of the container by the differencein width between the expanded accordion pleat and the contractedaccordion pleat.

A related object of the present invention is to provide a containerbottom two narrow non-expanding end sections adjacent to two accordionsections which sandwich a larger non-expanding center section so thateach of the accordion sections may be fully extended or fully collapsedand three sections of the cover hinged together may be extended outfully to cover a fully extending container bottom and a first cover endfolded over the center cover section to cover the container bottom withone accordion section collapsed and a second cover end folded over boththe center cover section and the first end cover section to cover thecontainer bottom with both accordion sections collapsed.

In brief, a plastic food storage container comprises a container bottomhaving a pair of sections of horizontally acting individuallyasymmetrical locking accordion pleats whereby the container may behorizontally expanded or collapsed to adjust the size and shape of thecontainer and the size and shape of the container opening. The size andshape changeable cover has three hinged overlapping parts which foldover each other to change the cover shape and size to match thecontainer.

The horizontally acting accordion pleats of the container each have adifferent width pair of accordion walls hinged together by a livinghinge so that upon compression each of the accordion pleats isseparately contracted snapping into a closed position and upon pullingapart expanded snapping into an open position thereby shortening andlengthening the horizontal length of the container.

All of the accordion pleats in each section are expanded fully orcontracted fully to alter the shape and size of the container bottom tobe fully open, one-third closed or two-thirds closed. Each end of thecover pivots over the center portion of the cover independently so thatone end pivoted over the center creates a cover shortened by one thirdand both ends folded over the center of the cover shortens the cover bytwo thirds, thereby mating with the three different configurations ofthe container bottom.

An advantage of the present invention is that it provides a storagecontainer which expands and contracts horizontally.

Another advantage of the present invention is that it can receive andretain various desired volumes and various desired size and shapeobjects based on the size and shape of the container bottom andcontainer cover.

A further advantage of the present invention is that the container canlock into any desired length and the cover can convert into threedesired lengths to mate with and seal the container bottom fully opened,one third closed and two thirds closed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other details of my invention will be described in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, which are furnished only by way ofillustration and not in limitation of the invention, and in whichdrawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the storage container bottom andcover both fully expanded horizontally with the cover aligned to mounton the container bottom;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the storage container bottom andcover of FIG. 1 with the right accordion pleats fully contracted and theleft accordion pleats fully expanded so that the container bottom iscontracted by one third of its horizontal length and the container coverwith the right end pivoted over the center section so that the cover iscontracted by one third of its length to mate with the contractedcontainer bottom and the cover is aligned for placement on the containerbottom;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the storage container bottom andcover of FIG. 1 with both the right and left accordion pleats fullycontracted so that the container bottom is contracted by two thirds ofits horizontal length and the container cover with both the right andleft end pivoted over the center section so that the cover is contractedby two thirds of its length to mate with the contracted container bottomand the cover is aligned for placement on the container bottom;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the contracted storage containerbottom and contracted container cover of FIG. 3 with the cover securedto the container bottom with the end clamps from the container bottomengaging the hinged portions now forming the ends of the contractedcover.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In FIGS. 1-3, a transformable storage device 20 changes the size andshape of a container 30, a container opening 40, and a mating containercover 10 in a horizontal direction.

A storage container 30 comprising a container center section 21Ccomprising a non-expanding center section bottom 28 and twonon-expanding center section side walls 23C interconnected to the centersection bottom and rising vertically therefrom. The two center sectionside walls 23C are spaced apart to form an opening at the tops of theside walls communicating with a storage space between the two centersection side walls and the center section bottom 28.

The storage container 30 further comprises at least one containeraccordion section, and preferably two container accordion sections 27Aand 27B, attached to the center section 23C with one on each side of thecenter section 23C. The accordion sections each comprise an accordionbottom 18 attached to the center section bottom 28 and two spacedaccordion side walls 19 each attached to one of the center sectionwalls, the accordion bottom and accordion side walls formed of a seriesof container accordion pleats expansible and contractible in ahorizontal direction to transform the horizontal size and shape of thestorage container and horizontal size and shape of a top opening 40 inthe storage container to accommodate a variety of sizes and shapes ofexternal items through the top opening into the storage container forstorage therein.

The storage container further comprises two opposing container endsections 21A and 21B each comprising an end section bottom 38A and 38Bconnected to the adjacent accordion bottom 18A and 18B, an end wall 39Aand 39B connected to the end section bottom 38A and 38B, and two endside walls 23A and 23B connected to the end section bottom 38A and 38Band end section end wall 39A and 39B and to the accordion side walls 19Aand 19B to form a storage container 20 transformable in horizontal sizeand shape from a first fully extended position, as in FIG. 1, to asecond contracted position reduced by a third of the horizontal length,as in FIG. 2, and to a third contracted position reduced by two thirdsof the horizontal length, as in FIGS. 3 and 4.

A container cover 10 comprises a non-expanding cover center section 11Cand at least one, preferably two, cover end sections 11A and 11B hingedto the center section with an air sealed hinge 15 connection so that theend sections 11A and 11B are reversibly pivotable between a firstextended position, as in FIG. 1, both aligned with the center coversection 11C to form a fully elongated container cover to mate with andcover the storage container in the first fully extended position of FIG.1, a second shortened position, as in FIG. 2, with one of the cover endsections 11B pivoted on top of the center cover section 11C to form acontracted container cover shortened in horizontal length by one thirdto mate with and cover the storage container 30 in the second contractedposition of FIG. 2, and a third shortened position, as in FIGS. 3 and 4,with both of the cover end sections 11A and 11B pivoted on top of thecenter cover section 11C to form a contracted container cover shortenedin horizontal length by two thirds to mate with and cover the storagecontainer 30 in the third contracted position of FIGS. 3 and 4.

A groove 16 around the edges 12 of the cover 10 snaps onto a top edge 22of the container to seal the container shut in the fully extendedposition, as in FIG. 1. In either contracted position the cover centerportion grooves engage the top edge of the container center section andend clamps 31 from the container bottom engage the hinges 15 now formingthe ends of the contracted cover to secure and seal the ends of thecontracted container cover onto the contracted container bottom. Eachend clamp 31 comprises a protruding ridge 35 from the end of thecontainer bottom with an arm 33 pivotally connected to the protrudingridge 35 by a clamp living hinge 34. On the end of the arm is a hook 32which engages the hinge 15 to clamp down the end of the contractedcontaner cove, as shown in FIG. 4. The arm 33 may be specificallystructured for each end or may telescope to engage the end of theextended container cover of FIG. 1 or a single pivoted cover end section11B folded onto the cover center section 11C or a cover end section 11Apivoted over both the cover center section 11C and the other cover endsection 11B, as shown in FIG. 4.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, each of the container accordion pleats 25A-25Ccomprises a first container accordion wall 25A and a second containeraccordion wall 25B both pivotally connected to a narrow connectingaccordion wall 25C. The first container accordion wall 25A is wider thanthe second container accordion wall 25B so that upon compression, eachof the container accordion pleats is separately collapsible with thefirst container accordion wall 25A of each of the pleats forcing thesecond container accordion wall 25B to snap backward internallyoverlapping the adjacent first container accordion wall, therebycollapsing the container accordion pleat and locking the containeraccordion pleat in a closed position and shortening a horizontal lengthof the container by a difference in width between the expanded containeraccordion pleat and the contracted container accordion pleat.

The container bottom 30 is expansible and contractible to any desiredlength in increments of the difference in width of each of the containeraccordion pleats 25A-25C between the expanded position, as shown in FIG.1, and the fully contracted position, as shown in FIG. 3, and changingthe number of container accordion pleats changes the size of contractionand expansion of the container.

The parts are preferably fabricated of synthetic material by a moldingprocess producing living hinges between the walls of the accordionpleats.

It is understood that the preceding description is given merely by wayof illustration and not in limitation of the invention and that variousmodifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit ofthe invention as claimed.

1. A transformable storage device which changes the size and shape of acontainer bottom, a container opening and a mating container cover in ahorizontal direction, the device comprising: a storage containercomprising a container center section comprising a non-expanding centersection bottom and two non-expanding center section side wallsinterconnected to the center section and rising vertically therefrom,the two center section side walls spaced apart to form an opening at thetops of the side walls communicating with a storage space between thetwo center section side walls and the center section bottom; at leastone container accordion section attached to the center section, the atleast one accordion section comprising an accordion bottom attached tothe center section bottom and two spaced accordion side walls sectionseach attached to one of the center section walls, the accordion bottomand accordion side walls formed of a series of container accordionpleats expansible and contractible in a horizontal direction totransform the horizontal size and shape of the storage container andhorizontal size and shape of a top opening in the storage container toaccommodate a variety of sizes and shapes of external items through thetop opening into the storage container for storage therein; two opposingcontainer end sections each comprising an end section bottom, an endwall connected to the end section bottom, and two end side wallsconnected to the end section bottom and end section end wall, the endsections connected to the at least one accordion section or the centersection to form a storage container transformable in horizontal size andshape from a first fully extended position to a second contractedposition; a container cover comprising a non-expanding cover centersection and at least one cover end section hinged together with an airsealed hinge connection so that the at least one end section isreversibly pivotable between a first extended position aligned with thecenter cover section to form a fully elongated container cover to matewith and cover the storage container in the first fully extendedposition and a second shortened position pivoted on top of the centercover section to form a contracted container cover to mate with andcover the storage container in the second contracted position.
 2. Thedevice of claim 1 wherein the storage container comprises anon-expanding container center section and two accordion containersections, one on each side of the center section and two container endsections, one on each side of the container accordion sections; and themating container cover comprises a non-expanding container cover centersection to mate with and cover the container center section and twocontainer cover end sections each attached by an airtight hinge to oneside of the container cover center section so that in the first extendedposition each of the container cover end sections mates with and coversan extended container accordion section and a connected container endsection, and when the container accordion section and the connectedcontainer end section are in the second contracted position, the matingcontainer cover end section is pivoted up onto the container covercenter section.
 3. The device of claim 1 wherein each of the containeraccordion pleats comprises a pair of container accordion walls hingedtogether, comprising a first container accordion wall and a secondcontainer accordion wall both pivotally connected to a narrow connectingaccordion wall, the first container accordion wall wider than the secondcontainer accordion wall so that upon compression, each of the containeraccordion pleats is separately collapsible with the first containeraccordion wall of each of the pleats forcing the second containeraccordion wall to snap backward internally overlapping the adjacentfirst container accordion wall, thereby collapsing the containeraccordion pleat and locking the container accordion pleat in a closedposition and shortening a horizontal length of the container by adifference in width between the expanded container accordion pleat andthe contracted container accordion pleat.
 4. The device of claim 3wherein the container is expansible and contractible to any desiredlength in increments of the difference in width of each of the containeraccordion pleats between the expanded and contracted position andchanging the number of container accordion pleats changes the size ofcontraction and expansion of the container.